


Lonely No Longer

by Skycastle



Category: DreamSMP
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Child Neglect, Fluff, Grayson | Purpled-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Lonely Purpled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28736883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skycastle/pseuds/Skycastle
Summary: Purpled was use to being alone a lot. It wasn't a big deal or anything, it's all he really knows. That's doesn't mean he likes it though.Who knew all it took was a chaotic but kind staff at a grocery store to help him feel less lonely?AU created by getouttamyswamp, got inspired to right this!!
Comments: 23
Kudos: 287
Collections: Dream SMP Grocery Store AU





	Lonely No Longer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [getouttamyswamp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/getouttamyswamp/gifts).
  * Inspired by [DreamSMP Grocery Store AU headcannons](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28393056) by [getouttamyswamp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/getouttamyswamp/pseuds/getouttamyswamp). 



> Got inspired by getouttamyswamp grocery store AU so I thought I write how Purpled got hired. Hope you enjoy!

Purpled would say he had a pretty good life.

He does well in school, has parents who for the most care about him, even though they’re busy. A dog who he loved very much. He doesn't have to worry about money, and he enjoys a variety of hobbies. So yeah, he believes he has the right to be happy, expect for one thing.

He didn't really have any friends.

He had acquaintances, Andrew, Sammy, and Astelic. They would play Minecraft together whenever they could, but he wouldn't say he was close to them. They all had their own friend groups that they hangout with offline. His only real friend was his old babysitter who used to live in his neighbourhood.

So yeah, Purpled was a bit of a loner. It wasn't a big deal or anything, plenty of teenagers were loners. Who cares if he felt left out at school, or never had anyone over? It was fine, he was fine.

Didn't make the house feel less empty when his parents left for business trips or outings though.

He didn't think that his lonely lifestyle would end so suddenly.

"Mom, I'm fifthteen I don't need a babysitter anymore." Purpled said sitting on the couch in the living room.

"I know, I know, but me and your dad will be out later than usual tonight. It never hurts to have an adult nearby."

"Don't get why you need to call him though. He's probably too busy with his store anyway."

"Purpled-"

An all too familiar laugh that sounded like a kettle filled the room. A young man in a green hoodie walked in holding a plastic bag.

"Dream! How did you get in here?" His mom asked.

"I still have the key you gave me. You never asked for it back so I assumed that it wasn't an issue." Dream explained. "I could give it back if you want."

"No, no it's fine. Keep it. We'll be back around one. Purpled, please don't stay up to late tonight, I don't care if it's Friday. Your dad and I don't need to hear your yelling in the night."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure the kiddo gets to bed at a reasonable time." Dream said ruffling Purpled's hair.

"Alright, thank you again Dream. We'll be going now." With that Purpled's mom left through the front door, closing it behind her.

"What's with the bag?" Purpled asked.

"Chinese food, figured you want it after hearing you needed a babysitter." Dream told him, coming to sit on the couch.

"Still don't know why you need to be here. Or why you have a spare key to my house."

"One, I did this because your parents looked after me and my siblings when we were younger. And two, they gave me this key in case you got sick or lonely while they were on trips. Plus I haven't seen you since I moved out so I thought, why not?"

"Thanks."

"No problem. So! What game are you playing that we need to absolutely destroy everyone else in?"

They spent a good part of the evening playing video games, eating food, and watching youtube videos. It was nice, Purpled thought. To have someone he could hangout with, to talk about games or make fun of youtube videos. A part of him felt embarrassed that he was doing this with Dream, but hey, he's known Dream since he was a kid. Who cares if he got attached? Dream didn’t.

"So, what's got you down today?" Dream asked, taking a sip of his pop.

"What?" Purpled asked, looking at him before hearing the game over music from the tv. "Shit."

"Come on Purpled I've known you since you were in elementary school. You don't think I could tell if something was bothering you?"

"Well I haven't seen you in awhile so I guess I expected that ability to disappear." He said, turning off the xbox and putting Youtube back on.

"Is that it? You're just missing me?" Dream asked.

"Maybe." Purpled said softly with his head down.

"Purpled, you know you could always call or text me. I gave you my number for a reason you know."

"Yeah, but you're busy with your store! You don't need to worry about me and loneliness."

"I'm not that busy, buddy." Dream said before the word process. "Lonely? Last you told me, you played Minecraft with a few others, can't you hangout with them?"

Purpled shook his head. "No, Andrew's in University. Sammy lives in Australia, so even if I wanted to see him I can't. Astelic goes to my school but she has her own friend group she's in. She doesn't really talk to me unless it's a quick hi in the halls."

"Huh, weird, usually teenagers have at least a small friend group." Dream said, an idea already forming in his head. "Hey, you busy tomorrow?"

"No, why?"

"How would you like to see where I work?"

And that's how Purpled found himself outside the DSMP grocery store. Not a very original name but hey, he's heard worse.

"So ready to go in or do you need to shake off some last minute nerves?" Dream joked.

Purpled rolled his eyes. "I'm good, let's just get this over with."

Dream led him into the store, it was a fairly large one. About ten cashiers and twelve isles, he could even see a deli, as he walked to the staff room. Going through the door he could see two young men in there arguing over something.

"Sapnap! George! You remember Purpled right?" Dream called out to them.

"Purpled? Oh, you mean that kid you use to babysit? Yeah, I remember him. He would follow you around all the time like a duckling." Sapnap laughed, making his way over to them.

"I did not." Purpled grumbled crossing his arms.

"What's he doing here Dream?" George asked, ignoring the two teens.

"Well, his parents were on an outing last night and are spending the whole day getting ready for another business trip. So I thought why not take Purpled here to interact with everyone?"

George scoffed. "You mean you want him to see our chaotic staff and see if he wanted to join instead of having interviews like a normal person."

"Why George! Whatever gave you that thought?" Dream dramatically put his hand over his heart looking hurt.

"You."

"Wow, I'm so hurt." He stated before turning to Purpled. "Feel free to stay here or wander around the store. Phil, the owner of the deli will let you chill with him if you're bored. I'm going back to work, you know how to contact me."

"Yup, text, call, or cause enough trouble that the police will get involved." He recited, Dream and Sapnap laughed while George yelled out a panicked "No!"

After Dream left George went after him shortly, leaving the two teens in the room.

"So, you certainly have grown since the last time I saw you." Sapnap said.

"That's what happens when you get older."

"True, so what do you want to do?"

"Don't know and why are you asking? Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Yeah but Dream is letting me have an extended break since midterms are coming up. Doesn't want me to have a panic attack from stress." Sapnap explained, "Come on, you can't stay here all day, I'll give you a tour."

Walking out of the staff room Sapnap led Purpled to the different parts of the store. He met Niki and Eret who were part of the bakery, with Eret also working as a cashier. They were nice, Niki gave him some free cookies for him to have. He met Punz and Ponk, who worked in the meat department. Punz seemed to know him right away. Dream apparently talked about him to Punz a lot. He pulled his hood over his head in embarrassment.

As the two walked down an aisle they were met with an unusual sight.

Two boys around Purpled's age were making a tower out of canned food. They wore the store's uniform so Purpled knew they weren't some teens trying to cause a scene. But still, this was a little strange.

"Tommy, Tubbo what are you doing?" Sapnap asked.

Both boys froze and slowly turned to them. One of them quickly hid two canned foods behind him while the other gave a nervous smile.

"Sapnap! We're uh just putting away these cans! Right Tubbo?" The one Purpled could now guess was Tommy said.

"Right! Just doing our job!" Tubbo said nervously.

"So you decided to put the cans on the floor, as a tower, in the middle of the aisle for customs to get stuck?" Sapnap asked, arms crossed.

"If you make the tower on the side it would only block some part of the shelves." Purpled said looking at the tower.

"See? He gets it!" Tommy yelled. "It's my cobblestone tower!"

"This isn't Minecraft Tommy. Stop using the products as Minecraft materials!" Sapnap exclamined.

The two continued to argue over the tower while Purpled just stood there. He felt awkward, he knew that the store had a unique atmosphere, but this definitely was not what he was expecting.

Sighing, he bent down and started picking up some cans that were by his feet and began placing where he thought they went. Tubbo started helping him, staring at him as he did so.

Starting to feel uncomfortable he asked "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh! Sorry, it's just your name is Purpled right?" Tubbo asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You know Purpled, Tubbo?" Sapnap asked now sitting on top of Tommy who was cursing at him.

"Not officially, we have second period together at school."

"We do?" Purpled asked.

"Yeah, we sit right next to each other." Tubbo explained.

"So I'm guessing loudmouth over there also goes to our school?" Purpled gestured to Tommy who was still being used as a chair for Sapnap.

"Yup! We started working here last year, it's really fun." Tubbo replied smiling.

"Glad you enjoy working here Tubbo, but can you please clean this up before I get Dream or Phil?" Sapnap asked, now standing.

"Yes sir! The two of us will clean this up faster than bees collect pollen!" Tubbo yelled saluting.

"What's with that analogy Tubbo?" Tommy asked.

"They're weird." Purpled told Sapnap as they left the two.

Sapnap laughed "Yeah, but they're good at their jobs and good kids. You'd get along with them, I'm sure."

"What makes you say that."

"I don't know. It seems like you don't have many friends. If you worked here they could help you out and you would see them almost everyday."

Purpled thought for a moment. Both Tommy and Tubbo went to his school. They liked Minecraft so that's nice but he knew nothing about them. Of course if he worked here he could get to know them. But he doubted they could actually be friends.

"Well here's the deli!" Sapnap exclaimed.

It was a fairly sized space, having enough room to fit a few tables. Purpled could see a door on the other side of the room. Probably for those who just wanted to buy here and not the rest of the store. He could see a few of the stores workers setting at one of the tables, they must be on break.

"And this is Phil! The owner of the deli." He pointed to a man behind the counter.

"Sapnap, mate what are you doing?" Phil asked, amused.

"Giving Purpled here a tour."

"And Purpled is."

"He's the kid Dream used to babysit in high school. Dream was looking after him today and brought him here." Sapnap told him.

"Oh, Purpled! I heard of him. Dream said you're like a little brother to him." One of the workers called from a table. "I'm Bad, this is Sam, Ant, and Skeppy."

"Hi." Purpled said before once again pulling his hood over his head and pulling the strings. Why did Dream have to talk about him to his staff members? This was so embarrassing! Even if it was nice.

"Shy is he?" Phil asked.

"He's always been quiet. Anyway I need to get back to work and I don't want him to be alone so can I leave him in your care for awhile?"

"Yeah sure. Purpled sit anywhere, if you want anything just ask." Phil told him.

"Thanks Dad!" Sapnap yelled running off.

"Dad?" Purpled asked looking at Phil.

Phil sighed. "A running joke the staff likes to use. Apparently I act like a dad to everyone here."

"You do though!" Skeppy yelled. "Just yesterday you scolded me and Wilbur for talking about eating sand!"

"Because sand is not edible! It's littoral rocks!" Phil yelled.

"See? Dad vibes." Sam laughed.

Phil groaned. "I'm going grey with you guys."

The entire group laughed at Phil's apparent pain. Purpled ended up laughing with them. He learned more about them as they introduced themselves. Sam had an interest in technology. Skeppy depended on Bad way too much. Ant had a boyfriend and loved cats, and Bad liked making muffins and hated swearing.

The group left shortly after that, they had work to do. So it was just him and Phil in the deli. They talked about various topics. Phil played Minecraft just like him. Dream had a server for the entire staff to use when they wanted. Phil ended up giving him a free lunch despite his offer to pay multiple times. After an hour Tommy and Tubbo came in for their break.

Tommy was to put it bluntly loud. He swore, complained, and just seemed like an annoyance than anything else. But, they both bonded over their distaste for math.

Tubbo was just as chaotic as Tommy. He had personas that liked chaos and one was a lawyer apparently. He didn't want to ask. He loved bees and redstone from Minecraft. He also worked at the bakery with Niki and Eret.

They ended up watching youtube videos on Tubbo's phone. Seeing different redstone contraptions, youtubers doing adventure maps. Do not laugh was still funny to him, and cops and robbers were still chaotic.

He met other staff members who came in for lunch. All were just as kind and chaotic as the teens. Purpled couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard. It was nice, having a group like this to interact with.

Before he knew it, the sun was starting to set. Dream came to get him when he was watching Karl and Quackity fighting in Smash.

"So, did you have fun?" Dream asked as they made their way to his car.

"It was…. interesting."

Dream laughed. "Yeah, that's one way of describing this place." He started the car and began to drive. "It's a good experience though."

"I guess. So, you talked a lot about me to them?"

"Yeah well, you're like a little brother to me. Everyone likes hearing about you."

"It's embarrassing."

"Well then that just makes me want to do it more."

"You suck." Purpled grumbled going on his phone, blushing as Dream laughed.

"So, you want to return tomorrow? Tommy and Tubbo want to hangout with you again."

“They do?”

“Yeah, they’re the only two kids working here. It’d be nice to have someone from their school to hangout with, even if you don’t work here.”

"...Actually, do you think you could show me the different departments tomorrow? What tasks they have to do? Stuff like that?"

Dream smiled.

Purpled was used to being alone, he didn't mind it but he still felt lonely once in a while. So when he asked if he could work at the DSMP store Dream hired him right away. He spent time with Ponk and Punz in the meat department and worked as a cashier. If Andrew and the others wonder why he couldn't play Minecraft, well they didn't need to know. And if his parents wonder why he suddenly started leaving the house, well he would say he was going to hangout with friends and leave it at that.

It took awhile, and sometimes he still felt lonely. But Purpled knew that he had people to talk to when he felt alone. Sure he still needs time to himself and sometimes struggles with Tommy's shenanigans, or everyone gets too difficult to handle. But the chaos that he saw everyday made it worth it.

And he wouldn't change it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Here are the main headcanons that I thought of for this and ones I couldn't really add.  
> -Purpled parents live in the same neighborhood as Dream's family, so Dream would babysit Purpled when he was in high school  
> -Purpled's parents like Ranboo's are often not home. They're often on business trip a lot or outings. When he was younger they would spend a day with Purpled to make up for it but as Purpled got older his parents left more often and longer and those days just stop. They're also emotionally distant from him. Dream would be the one to take care of him when they left.  
> -Purpled isn't social, while he plays Minecraft with Andrew, Sammy, and Astelic he doesn't see them as friends. Andrew's in university, Sammy's in Australia and while Astelic is at his school they never talk.  
> -Dream has his house key in case of an emergency he also gave Purpled his number to stay in contact. But Purpled barely used it after Dream moved away he felt that Dream would be to busy to care.  
> -They two have a brother relationship and Purpled is attached to Dream even though he denies it :)  
> -Dream talks about Purpled a lot to his co-workers before Purpled got hired to the point Punz who never seen him could tell right away who Purpled was (Purpled says he hates it but he doesn't).  
> -Purpled get sick easily, nothing life threatening but most of the time he needs to stay home.  
> -After seeing Sapnap have a breakdown/panic attack last year Dream gave him an extended break around midterms to prevent him from being overworked.  
> -When board Tommy and Tubbo will stack products up in a tower in the middle of the aisle after Purpled and Ranboo joined they started helping.  
> -Phil is everyone's dad he tries to stop them from calling him dad but gave up after a week.  
> -Tubbo will make bee analogy whenever he can  
> -Dream has a Minecraft server that the entire staff and Schlatt uses whenever they want.  
> -While Purpled does appreciate his friends there are times where their chaos get to much for him and he need a break, this is one of the reasons he goes into the freezer to scream
> 
> That's everything! Hope you all enjoyed :)


End file.
